Description

Comprehensively documented and illustrated, this is the definitive and authoritative look at one of America's landmark amusement parks, Playland at the Beach, a glamorous park that is still revered by San Franciscans more than 40 years after it closed. A dearly loved part of old San Francisco, the park incorporated rides, dining, sight-seeing, socialization, and its pioneering attractions inspired the designers of the amusement parks that followed. A companion piece to ""San Francisco's Playland at the Beach: The Early Years,"" this keepsake covers the years 1945 to 1972, showcasing both the height of Playland's postwar popularity and its decline, closure, and destruction during its final years. Illustrated by a huge collection of rare black-and-white and color photographs, it lets the reader experience the rides, attractions, restaurants, and behind-the-scenes operations of the great amusement park during its best-remembered period.

About the Author

Dr. James R. Smith, Jr. is a Teaching Assistant Professor in the Department of Curriculum, Instruction and Counselor Education. He has held the positions of a secondary business and marketing teacher, North Carolina State Consultant for Business and Information Technology, and a local school system Career and Technical Education Administrator. Currently, he is the undergraduate and graduate program coordinator for the Business and Marketing Education teacher education program at NC State University. There he has led the development of online graduate courses for the master's program in business and marketing education. Dr. Smith has held offices in professional organizations and has received the Outstanding Leadership Award from the National Association of Supervisors of Business Education and the Outstanding Career and Technical Educator from the North Carolina Career and Technical Education Association--Business Education Division. In 2005, he was inducted into the North Carolina Business and Information Technology Education Hall of Fame.